How do I drop my ex-wife from my health insurance?

I simply can not afford to pay for her health insurance any longer. I just got laid off of work and now to keep us covered on health insurance, I have to pay COBRA which is significantly more than what my contributions were before. I cannot afford it. We live in Burlington, MA and Mass law requires everyone to have health insurance, right? What can I do?

I suggest you look to your separation “divorce” agreement for your answer. If it is a thorough and complete agreement, it should cover the situation in which the original party agreeing to keep the family on his/her policy is no longer able to do so. Many agreements will shift the burden to the other party to obtain coverage if it is available through that person’s employment; the advantage being that many employer provided policies subsidize the cost of the policy to some degree for the employee. If that is available then there may be an agreement as to how to pay for the coverage as between the parties. If neither party is able to get coverage through their employer then usually the parties agree to coordinate and split the cost of coverage at least for the children. Good luck.

Allan Baron

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